IPL 7: Death bowling won us the game, says Tom Moody

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers conceded a mere 22 runs in the last five overs of Delhi Daredevils' innings.

Even if rain had not made it easier for them, Sunrisers Hyderabad deserved to win Saturday’s Indian Premier League match against Delhi Daredevils simply because of their exceptional death bowling, asserted the visiting team coach Tom Moody.

In a rain-hit match, Hyderabad needed 43 off five overs in a revised target after restricting the hosts to 143 for seven. They easily got home with the loss of two wickets.

Asked if rain interruptions turned the tide in their favour, Moody said, “Even if it did, we deserved it. They way we bowled, particularly the way we executed the last six overs. We reduced them to a total 20 to 30 runs less than what they could have got.”

“In the last 40 balls, roughly we bowled 34 in the block holes and when you do that, rain or no rain, it’s going to be difficult to score and along with that we took wickets, so it is difficult for a new batsman to score,” the former Australian all-rounder said.

It’s not the first time that Hyderabad have won on the back of their bowling led by South African speedster Dale Steyn, who is ably supported by Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Moody said the exceptional death bowling was the turning point of the match.

“It was probably the way we finished the innings with the ball. The teams tend to go 10 in an over but we managed to keep it under six and took wickets, that was the turning point. We richly deserved to win the way we played,” he said.

Hyderabad’s batsmen have not really fired in the tournament so far but Moody backed his batting line up and also refused to tinker with the batting order.

Asked if they would think of sending David Warner up the order, Moody replied in a negative.

“David is an exceptional player but at the moment the balance of the side requires him to bat at number four. In a shortened game, at four he is wasted, so we moved him up to three today. Lokesh Rahul has done a consistent job. Both Shikhar Dhawan and Finch have threatened. We know they are match winners and that innings is just round the corner. We need to have faith in proven performers,” he said.

Moody also defended the decision to drop West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy to accommodate Moises Henriques.

“Darren is a valuable asset in the squad. But we wanted to be stronger with the ball. He (Sammy) has not bowled much. Bringing in Moises was one way of addressing that. Things are slowly coming together.“

Delhi Daredevils are virtually out of the reckoning for the knockouts and batsman JP Duminy says ending the tournament on a high is the aim now.

“We are all professionals. And we got to respect the game. We just can’t pass time in the next five games. We have got to give it all. We owe it to DD supporters and the owners, who have faith in us and that is a good enough motivation. We should end the tournament on a high,” the South African southpaw said.

Duminy said his coming down in the batting order has not hurt the side.

“It’s not detrimental at all. One player does not make the team. We had plans but unfortunately it did not work out well today. It’s a tough one, they bowled well at the death,” he said.

Duminy also said Sunrisers played exceptional today and rain actually provided them a good chance to pull off a win.

“We had a better chance of wining the game honestly. 143 was not a defendable total on this short ground. I guess the in a shortened game, the opposition having nine wickets in hands would do better. We got to give credit to Sunrisers. We have to regroup and do better in the remaining games,” he said.

“The batters also need to take responsibility. We can’t blame the bowlers alone. We have not put together the two. If we have batted well we did not bowl well and if we bowled well we did not bat well.”